The World after the Fall

According to Beastlain, it was within the one year that Jaehwan spent in <Depth> that he gained the ability to speak. The sword had gone through the 3rd evolution from the enormous world power and was now able to use its mouth not only to eat, but to speak as well.

However, the problem was 'when'. He had been silent all this time, so it felt strange to speak; he also feared that Jaehwan would destroy him if he knew. Then, Jaehwan walked into the darkness and 50 years passed.

After all that time, Beastlain forgot that he could speak. If Jaehwan hadn't asked, he would never have spoken. After hearing all that, Jaehwan felt sorry for Beastlain and let him speak. And… this was the result.

"So, are you done expressing your pent-up fifty years worth of chatter?"

[N-no! I still have far more!]

They were all just boring stories, but Beastlain was really helpful to Jaehwan. At least he wasn't alone anymore. Whatever Beastlain said was better than complete silence. Of course, there was some rubbish that was hard to listen to.

[Yeah! This world is all about you looking out for yourself! How about you start now? It's still not too late. You can even become the King of the <Depth>!]

"Are you still talking about that?"

[I'm worried about you! I mean, we've become good friends after all this time! You can always choose a path that's more comfortable for you. Why…]

It really was nonsense.

"Aren't you just afraid of being destroyed in a fight against Big Brother?"

[N-no! I mean… uh.]

Beastlain was quite simple-minded.

"Why are you so afraid of it? I thought nobody knows what Big Brother actually is."

[That's why everyone's afraid of him. You don't know what Big Brother is, even when it is the most powerful thing in the world. Isn't that terrifying enough?]

Jaehwan listened to Beastlain. He realized that it was the first time he was listening about Big Brother from a Cultivator's point of view.

[Big Brother is an organization that controls all cultivation. That's what we think.]

"An organization?"

[At least that's what I think. It is impossible to manage all those dimensions or approve all those Cultivations unless you are a big organization. I think the Gods from <Depth> think otherwise though…]

"Weren't there people called 'Public Cultivators' among you? They don't know about Big Brother either?"

[…They're still Cultivators. I heard that they are associated with Big Brother, but they only receive work. They don't know what Big Brother actually is.]

"But they receive work from Big Brother. Doesn't that mean that they communicate?"

Jaehwan then wondered why he didn't think of that. If demons were able to communicate with Big Brother for Cultivation, he could have utilized that to gather information about Big Brother.

[We just receive work through the Little Brother network system. It's not like I can send a message and get a response. And it's not even a message anyway.]

"What do you mean?"

[We don't send messages to specific entities. We just choose a Cultivation region, ask for approval, and then we receive the approval. We cannot use private messages.]

"Are public cultivators the same too?"

[Yeah. I heard they receive it in the form of a 'Quest' to choose where to cultivate.]

It was easy to understand. Big Brother had cut down all possible channels of communication, assuming there were any. But that was good to know. At least Jaehwan wasn't wrong about what he did and his efforts.

There was something up there, and it was controlling Cultivation.

That alone was enough for Jaehwan to continue going up. Beastlain then asked.

[I am actually curious about what you think. Do you not have any thoughts on what Big Brother is?]

"Me?"

[Yeah. You, as an Awakener, are in a better position to find information than me. You also know stories about the Three Ancient Gods…]

"I have a guess. It's just a guess though."

[Oh? Can you tell me what it…]

"It's just a guess. And in my case, what Big Brother is might not really matter."

That confused Beastlain. They had been talking about what Big Brother was all this time and he was now saying that it didn't matter.

[What? Why is that?]

"What matters now is whether I can get out of this place or not."

Beastlain understood right away. They had already been locked in this space for 50 years. And this space was thought to be created by Big Brother. Whatever Big Brother was, it would be useless unless they got out of this space.

"We have time. I'm not worried."

Jaehwan shrugged and began to stab in the air again.

[Hey, uh, can you go a bit slower? It's making me nauseous. I've always wanted to say this…]

Jaehwan ignored it and kept on stabbing.

'Gosh. This human…'

He stabbed and stabbed again as if he would stab forever, or as if he would stab away this darkness. And the sword's mouth moved to make a cracking noise. It was as close to a laugh as he could make.

'I see. So this human will never give up.'

It was the same thing when they were in the tower. Even when everyone gave up on clearing and gave up on the presence, this human did not give up. This man stood and fought.

Was it because of that? Beastlain felt that Jaehwan would succeed again, even if the enemy wasn't a Cultivator but the ruler of the world. Maybe he too had been influenced by Jaehwan. The sword shot out dark flames as its voice declared arrogantly,

[Dammit, okay! I won't die twice anyway. Let's go!]

It was after a very long time that Beastlain regretted his thoughts. Dying twice… Beastlain did not know that there was something far more terrifying than death. The trial that was upon Jaehwan wasn't just something he could overcome with effort.

Stab and stab. Talk for a while. Stab again.

Jaehwan's stab kept on growing and the sword became sharper. They talked about a lot of things. They talked so much that their differences in race, or the hatred between a Cultivator and a Product, disappeared.

They expressed glee at simple things and argued about simple things. They withstood time. And nothing changed.

Even then, they repeated the same thing day in and day out. The days when they did not say anything increased, but they did not give up.

And like that, two hundred thousand years passed.